The present disclosure relates generally to computer implemented methods and apparatus for monitoring the performance of a network. More particularly, the disclosure relates to monitoring network links.
Ping is a computer network administration software utility used to test the reachability of a host on an Internet Protocol (IP) network. More particularly, ping measures the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer that are echoed back to the source.
Ping operates by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Request packets to the target host and waiting for an ICMP Echo Reply packet. The program reports errors, packet loss, and a statistical summary of the results, typically including the minimum, maximum, the mean round-trip times, and standard deviation of the mean.
Another way to obtain network performance metrics is through the use of a one-way protocol such as the one-way active measurement protocol (OWAMP). Through the use of OWAMP, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets are transmitted and measurement results such as the transmission time and number of packets transmitted are returned.
The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a connectionless transmission protocol that does not require prior communications to set up transmission channels or data paths. UDP provides checksums for data integrity and port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination of the datagram. However, there is no guarantee of delivery, ordering, or duplicate protection.